The present invention relates to emergency devices for handling stricken patients. When a patient is injured, suffers from trauma, stroke, heart attack etc., the patient has to be moved by an emergency team. To facilitate such movement, the patient is typically placed on a patient carrier, such as a backboard, or a Stokes' basket or the like. These patient carriers provide rigid support for the neck and spinal column and help to prevent accidental misalignment in the event the back or neck is broken.
Patients often eliminate when they are in a stricken condition. They may have open wounds and may bleed on the patient carrier. These fluids are a potential source of contamination for the patient carrier. Similarly, patients injured in chemical accidents may have chemicals on their person and clothing which can contaminate the patient carrier. In some cases, the chemicals could conceivably react with the material of the patient carrier, generate heat and further injure the patient.
While such contaminants can be cleaned off the patient carrier if sufficient care is used, there is often not enough time to exercise such care. As a result, several patients may be conveyed in a single night on a patient carrier which has not been cleaned between uses, other than superficially.